Blog

At first glance, it would appear that the top two teams in the Eighth Region, Anderson County and South Oldham, are favored to be headed for a showdown in the regional championship game set for Saturday night at Gallatin County.

But there are six games to be played before then and with Anderson in the role of the defending champion and South Oldham being the top-ranked club since Jan. 1, the targets on both teams' backs are huge.

On paper, Anderson County looks like a good bet to win its third consecutive 30th District championship. The Lady Bearcats are 20-8, have won seven of their last eight and seem to be playing much better than when they struggled to beat Collins 56-49 back on Jan. 15.

But games are not played on paper. In fact, on the court, Collins, 15-13, is a difficult matchup for Anderson because of the Titans’ athletic ability. Forward Aaliyah Wells gives Collins an athletic presence in both the low post and around the lane.

I will admit that it feels a bit strange to be clearing out some nights on my calendar in early March. For the first time in 11 years, the Eighth Region boys’ basketball tournament will go on without Anderson County.

Spencer County made sure of that Tuesday night when the Bears took Anderson’s best punch in the first four minutes of the second half, then pulled away to win 60-47.

Anderson County can be thankful Lowell Gordon had a hot hand Monday night. The junior, who is usually one of the smallest players on the court, came up big for the Bearcats in their district tournament win over Eminence Monday night at Spencer County.

Early, Anderson struggled a bit. The Bearcats did not appear to be tight, but just could not find the rim from the outside. However, Gordon nailed back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter that got Anderson going. The more he – and the rest of the Bearcats shot – the hotter they got.

The word that Anderson County High School graduate Jacob Russell had transferred from Eastern Kentucky came rather quietly for someone who had been so highly touted just a year earlier when Russell was a high school senior and was named the state's Class 5A Player of the Year.

As Ryan Alves, of the Eastern Progress, reported, Russell left EKU after one season in Richmond. He transferred to the University of Kentucky, which could not comment on Russell's decision until he enrolled because of NCAA rules.

Under normal circumstances, I pull for a team from New York about as often as Alex Rodriguez has to apply for food stamps. But these are far from normal circumstances.

It’s not often I turn on an NFL game that I see someone walking the sidelines that I have stretched barbed wire fence with. Or one that I sat across from in a lawn chair, chatting and sipping a glass of iced tea.

I would not want to have the responsibility that has fallen on high school administrations during this winter.

While we have not had a major winter storm – think 8-12 inches of snow – yet this winter, what we have seen is long stretches of bad weather that have had people scratching their heads and school administrators juggling schedules to try to get athletic events in.

And no matter what you decide, you know someone is not going to be happy.

Every now and then in this business, you run across someone that makes you step back, pause and really wonder.

“Is this person real?”

I can't say that I know Randall Cobb well. Two conversations at media opportunities provided by the University of Kentucky and following him on Twitter isn't really a friendship, you know. Yet, like many who follow the Wildcats, I feel like I got to know Cobb in a small way.